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Audit Report: IG-0574

November 14, 2002

Calutron Isotope Production Capabilities

In August 2002, the Department of Energy (Department) formalized its plan to permanently disable the only domestic facility capable of producing electromagnetically enriched stable isotopes. The Department intended to dismantle the equipment in the facility, called calutrons, and rely on existing isotope inventories, isotopes produced by Russia, or the adaptation of other isotope separation technologies to meet the domestic demand for stable isotopes. This plan was based on the premise that the calutrons were excess to mission needs and not economical.